


Drinking

by adiwriting



Series: Hearing Verse [50]
Category: Glee
Genre: Deaf Blaine, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 14:55:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3414887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adiwriting/pseuds/adiwriting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Technically speaking, Maddy and Li aren’t supposed to be at a party. Part of the Hearing!Verse</p>
            </blockquote>





	Drinking

**Author's Note:**

> Please heed the warnings. There is mention of a past rape and an encounter with the rapist. Nothing is explicitly described by it could be triggering. There is also possible alcohol poisoning.

Technically speaking, Maddy and Li aren’t supposed to be at a party. Dad thinks they are at a friend’s house for the night and Papa is out of town. Yet, at a party they find themselves. The party is thrown by Maddy’s good friend, and drummer in her band, Bailey. Maddy hadn’t really wanted to go. For the last few weeks, ever since the disastrous incident with Devon, she just hasn’t been up for being around people. But Bailey had threatened her with bodily harm if she didn’t show up, and Li had been moping around the house for some unknown reason, so Maddy had grabbed her sister and here they were.

They squeeze through a crowd of people and make their way towards the kitchen, where a bar is set up. Some creep grabs Li’s ass along the way and Maddy slaps him across the face. She’s in no mood to deal with any drunk frat boys tonight.

I THINK I SHOULD GO BACK HOME, Li signs to her, once they finally reach the bar, where there’s a bit more room to sign. Maddy knows that Li doesn’t have a lot of experience being around hearing people, and she doesn’t blame her for feeling nervous. It’s always nerve-racking being in an environment where you’re the only one that’s different.

NO, DON’T BE SILLY, Maddy tells her. THE MUSIC’S SO LOUD, NOBODY WILL BE TALKING. JUST DANCE WITH ME. IT’S LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU RIGHT? YOU CAN FEEL IT?

YEAH, Li signs, giving her a doubtful look.

WELL THEN, COME ON, she signs, rolling her eyes. Li is so serious all of the time and Maddy just wishes she would let loose every once in awhile so that she could stop feeling like Li was constantly judging her.

FINE, Li signs, but not before pouring herself a healthy shot of vodka and downing it without even coughing.

WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO DRINK, she asks, shocked. She had no idea that Li would even know what a shot was, let alone how to take one.

DON’T ACT LIKE YOUR FRIENDS ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT KNOW HOW TO HAVE FUN, Li signs. I’VE BEEN TO A PARTY BEFORE. I DON’T SPEND MY WEEKENDS AT HOME BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE OPTIONS, I DO IT BECAUSE I PREFER IT TO GETTING DRINKS SPILLED ON ME.

Maddy rolls her eyes and wishes, not for the first time, that Mei wasn’t away at college until Christmas.

“Damn!” Maddy hears a boy yell, then whistle and she turns to make sure that it’s not directed at her. She’s surprised to see two of her classmates practically drooling over Li. While she knows that Li is pretty, she’s also really shy and doesn’t date around. She’s not used to anyone outside of social media looking at Li like that.

“Hey, H-A,” Conner yells at her, using the nickname she absolutely hates. It’s supposed to stand for Hummel-Anderson, because apparently Maddy is too long and her last name is the only valuable part about her. “How much for the two of you to kiss?”

“She’s my sister, Asswipe!” she says, flipping him off. She grabs an entire bottle of rum off the bar with one hand and Li with the other, then drags her away from the boys and onto the crowded dance floor.

ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO DRINK ALL OF THAT? Li asks her.

THERE’S ONLY HALF THE BOTTLE LEFT, she signs back with a roll of her eyes. If she had known that Li would nag her, she wouldn’t have invited her. She was just trying to be nice. She figured that Li didn’t get out enough.

Li doesn’t respond, but the judgmental look on her face says it all. Li quickly gets pulled away to dance with a boy, and once Maddy is sure that she’s okay and comfortable, Maddy goes off in search of Bailey.

“Maddy!” Bailey screams in her hear once she finds her. “I looking was… Looking I… I was looking,” she stops to laugh hysterically. She’s clearly drunk off her ass and the party only started an hour ago. “I was looking for you.

“Yeah,” Maddy says. “You told me that I had to come, so here I am.”

“You’re mean,” she says to her, pouting while she hangs off of her boyfriend, Braden. “Why are you so mean, now?”

“I’ve just had a bad day, okay?” Maddy says, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax. “I’m sorry.”

“You need drunk,” she slurs, offering her the beer in her hand, but Maddy holds up the rum to let her know she’s already working on it.

“Hey, is that your sister?” Braden asks, only slightly more sober than Bailey.

Maddy looks over her shoulder to see that Li is still dancing with the boy she’d left her with.

“That would be her,” she says. “Is there a problem?”

“No!” Bailey yells before giggling again. “Two of the famous H-A girls came to my party. I’m gonna… newspaper… “ Bailey tries to talk through her hiccups. “My name in the newspaper.”

Bailey pulls out her phone and Maddy watches as she starts to tweet about it. She grabs the phone out of her hand. “Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?”

“What?”

“First of all, do you know how unsafe that is? To just announce to the entire world where I am. Second, my parents don’t know I’m here and would ground me for life. Third, you’re supposed to be my friend. Not some fame whore who’s only hanging out with me to get her name on Page 6,” Maddy tells her off, then storms away before Bailey can even try to defend herself.

“Hey, H-A,” Devon whispers into her ear and grabs her wrist, causing her to freeze in shock. Nobody had warned her that he would be here. Of course they hadn’t. Nobody knew that she was actively trying to avoid him like the plague after what he’d done. She hadn’t told anyone.

“Get off me,” she says, yanking her arm back.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Devon says. He’s clearly drunk and she doesn’t like the way he’s clearly trying to look down her shirt.

“You touch me and I will break every single one of your fingers,” she says. “What do you think your coach will say when you can’t play next weekend because you got beat up by a girl?”

“I think you talk a lot of smack for a girl that clearly wanted what she got,” he said. “Otherwise, you would have told people what happened.”

“Fuck you. Like I would give you the satisfaction,” she says. As much as she would love to let everyone know what a monumental creep he is, she knows the second the school catches wind that he forced her into having sex, the only thing they’ll do is congratulate Devon on banging one of the famous Hummel-Anderson’s.

“Let me know if you want to stop pretending you didn’t want it and play again,” he says, leaning in to kiss her on the cheek like he used to always do before, only now it’s anything but friendly. Now, she’s aware that most of the friendships she’s spent years depending on, have only been using her because of her last name.

She leans in close enough so that anyone looking at them will simply think they are dancing, then she punches him hard in the nuts.

“I may not be telling people what you did to me, but know that I don’t want you anywhere near me. If you ever so much as talk to me again, I’ll have you killed. My dad sang for the president. We can make it happen,” she says, the lie easily rolling off of her tongue. Not about her papa. He really did sing for the president, but she knows she’ll never tell her parents about what happened. She knows they’ll only blame themselves.

Satisfied that her message was sent, loud and clear, she walks away and begins pounding back the drink in her hand. The bottle of rum is empty within a half hour.

****

ARE YOU OKAY? Li asks, her but Maddy doesn’t respond. Her eyes are unfocused and she doesn’t just look drunk, she looks sick. Her skin is incredibly pale and she can barely stand.

MADDY, Li signs. I NEED YOU TO LOOK AT ME.

Maddy blinks a lot as her eyes roll to the back of her head and she starts to fall backwards. Li catches her and pulls her in close, so that she can support her dead weight. She grabs the sleeve of the nearest person, and tries to indicate that she needs help, but they just wave her off with a laugh. Li shakes Maddy until she wakes up a little bit.

TIRED, Maddy signs, leaning heavily on her.

WE NEED TO LEAVE, she signs. HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO DRINK?

WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY HANDS? Maddy asks, and Li realizes that she can’t see a single thing that she’s signing because her vision is to blurred.

Li manages to get Maddy out of the apartment and onto the street, where they both promptly collapse against the building. Maddy, from how intoxicated she is. Li, from her sister’s weight pulling her down.

THIS SIDEWALK IS SO DIRTY, she signs, making a face and pulling Maddy up before she can lay her face on it.

WE’VE GOT TO GET YOU HOME, Li signs, before realizing how much trouble they’ll both be in if they walk through the door with Maddy as drunk as she is.

Li pulls her phone out of her pocket and dials one of the only other people she knows will come get them and not tell her parents.

WHY ARE YOU CALLING ME? Santana answers the FaceTime call, looking annoyed. IT’S PRACTICALLY MIDNIGHT. DON’T YOU HAVE A BEDTIME?

Li doesn’t bother explaining, instead she flips the camera to show Maddy slumped against her. When she turns the screen back on herself, Santana is already putting on her shoes and asking her where they are.

Twenty minutes later, a cab pulls up and Santana gets out and rushes to their side. Li is busy holding back Maddy’s hair as she vomits all over the sidewalk.

SHE WON’T STOP, Li signs to her, begging for her to do something to help.

IT’S GOOD FOR HER, Santana signs, rubbing Maddy’s back with one hand. SHE NEEDS TO GET AS MUCH OUT OF HER SYSTEM AS SHE CAN. HOW MUCH DID SHE HAVE TO DRINK.

I DON’T KNOW, Li admits, feeling helpless. She feels guilty. She shouldn’t have left Maddy alone at the party. She should have kept a better eye on her.

DID SHE TAKE ANYTHING? IS SHE ON ANYTHING? Santana asks.

NO, she answers quickly, before realizing that she would have no idea if she had. I DON’T THINK SO… HOW WOULD I KNOW IF SHE HAD?

OKAY, Santana says. I KNOW THAT YOU DON’T WANT YOUR OLD MAN FINDING OUT, I GET THAT. BUT I THINK MADDY MIGHT HAVE TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL.

THE HOSPITAL? She starts freaking out. NO!

I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH SHE DRANK, OR IF SHE TOOK ANYTHING ELSE, Santana signs, trying to calm her down. BUT SHE’S NOT BREATHING NORMALLY, AND HER SKIN IS STARTING TO LOOK BLUE.

CAN’T WE JUST WAIT AND SEE? Li signs, wondering how angry Maddy will be if they take her to the hospital. If they do that, then their parents will get called.

YOU WANT TO WAIT AND SEE IF MAYBE SHE DOESN’T HAVE ALCOHOL POISONING? Santana signs, making her feel like an idiot. Of course she didn’t want to wait if it meant Maddy might be seriously sick.

CAN WE AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL SHE FINISHES THROWING UP? YOU SAID IT WOULD HELP? she asks.

FINE, Santana signs. BUT YOU’RE CALLING SEBASTIAN AND ASKING HIS ADVICE.

UNCLE SEBASTIAN? she asks. WHY?

BECAUSE HIS HUSBAND IS A DOCTOR AND EVEN IF HE WASN’T, LORD KNOWS THAT TWINK HAS ATTENDED ENOUGH RAVES IN HIS DAY TO KNOW WHAT AN OD LOOKS LIKE, Santana signs.

Li sighs. If she calls Sebastian, she knows he’ll help without asking too many questions. But there’s also a 75% chance that he’ll tell her dad as well. The look Santana is giving her makes it clear that she doesn’t have a choice.

She dials the number and waits for the call to go through. Once he picks up, Li looks back to Santana. WHAT DO I SAY.

GIVE ME THE PHONE AND KEEP HER FROM DROWNING IN HER OWN VOMIT.

PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT DANI, she watches Sebastian sign over Santana’s shoulder. BECAUSE YOU’RE WITH LI AND SHE LOOKS FINE, BUT I’M STARTING TO GET WORRIED.

Santana and Sebastian talk for several minutes, the whole time Santana is flipping the screen back and forth from Maddy to her again so that Sebastian could see what they were dealing with. During this time, Maddy finally stops throwing up and when she looks back up at Li, she looks slightly less intoxicated than she did before. Which, while still worrying, is at least progress.

HOW DO YOU FEEL? Li asks.

I THINK I WANT TO GO HOME NOW, Maddy signs, laying back until she’s got her head in Li’s lap.

“Hey, no sleeping for you,” Santana says, pulling Maddy back up. Li can’t hear it, but she can tell Maddy is whining by the annoyed look on Santana’s face.

“Did you take anything?” Santana asks, and while her hands are too busy to sign, holding Maddy up, Li can read her lips easily enough.

Maddy shakes her head.

“You’re sure,” Santana says. “Don’t lie to me just because you’re afraid of your dads.”

Maddy shakes her head again.

“Okay, fine,” she says. “Good. Now, do you know how much you had to drink?”

Li can’t see what Maddy says, but her response must satisfy Santana because she allows Maddy to lay back down in Li’s lap and goes back to talking with Sebastian.

YOU KNOW YOU SCARED EVERYONE, Li signs.

I WAS SAD AND ANGRY. I JUST WANTED TO FORGET, she signs, her eyes getting more clear the longer they wait outside, but she won’t be completely sober for awhile.

WELL NEXT TIME COME AND TALK TO ME, Li signs. DON’T DRINK YOUR FEELINGS. EAT THEM LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. YOU KNOW MRS. WU WILL ALWAYS LET US DROWN OUR SORROWS IN SOME FREE CHINESE FOOD.

Maddy smiles up at her sadly, and Li wishes more than anything, she knew exactly why Maddy was so upset. Maddy, the girl who everyone worships, who Li’s looked up to her entire life. They may be less than a year apart, but Maddy’s always been a role model for Li. Not that she would ever tell her that, there are rules for those kind of things and you don’t tell your sibling you admire them. It just doesn’t happen. But she does. Maddy is outgoing, bold, and incredibly brave. She doesn’t take any crap from anybody, and until today, Li’s never known anything to hurt her. The thought of anything hurting Maddy makes Li want to smash something.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING CARE OF ME, Maddy signs.

OF COURSE, Li tells her, rubbing her temples to hopefully help ease some of the ache. WHAT ARE SISTERS FOR?

Eventually, they are put in a cab and sent to Sebastian’s condo to stay the night. Santana explains that they think Maddy is okay now, but to be safe, they want the girls to spend the night at Sebastian’s so that Carter can help if anything bad happens. Santana promises not to tell their parents, but she warns them that Sebastian is livid.

The cost for keeping their secret is a 5am wakeup call with cold water and a 5 hour lecture on alcohol safety from Carter. After that, Sebastian has his turn lecturing them. When he is finally done yelling at them, he takes them both out to lunch and reminds them that he still loves them, and just wants them to be safe. He tells them that no matter what they do, who they do it with, or where they are, they are always to call for help and he will be there without judgement.

Maddy breaks down in tears over a plate of chicken fingers, and refuses to tell them what’s wrong. Li has flashbacks to Mei being put into rehab and wonders if they’ll have to do the same with Maddy.

They don’t, thankfully. After a good cry, she wipes her face and makes a joke about PMS and that’s the last Li ever hears about it. She’s back to being fun, bubbly, carefree Maddy. However, from that point on, Li keeps a closer eye on her sister. She notices Sebastian and Santana doing the same. It’s not until two years later, that Li ever finds out what had been going on with Maddy to make her so upset that night.

When she hears about what that boy did to her sister, she wants to smash something all over again. Sometimes the worst part about caring for somebody, is that their pain becomes your own. In that moment, she wants to scream. She wants to hit something. She wants to break down and cry. But as she watches Maddy explain why she didn’t tell anyone, and that the best thing they can do to help her help others, she’s reminded that the best part about Maddy — the part of Maddy that she looks up to so much — is her strength.

Li only wishes she could support Maddy the way that Maddy supports the rest of them.


End file.
